A US-based Nigerian lawyer, Emmanuel Ogebe, has written a letter to Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah encouraging him to report the Nigerian government to the United States government for alleged hate crimes against his person (Kukah), as he himself (Ogebe) had once done.
The Eagle Online recalls that Bishop Kukah had recently addressed the US Congress in a virtual interaction during which he accused the President Muhammadu Buhari administration of religious discrimination, among others, and sought help for Nigeria, saying the president helpless.
Kukah had been roundly vilified by the government and its agents/apologists after that interaction.
Now Ogebe is suggesting, indeed advising, that Kukah has a legal right to report the Nigerian government to the US, as there is a law in that country which criminalises what the Nigerian government is doing to him (Kukah).
He advises the cleric that it is an offense against US law to threaten or retaliate against a witness who testified in Congress, and even shows evidence (with attachments) that the Nigerian embassy once violated the same US law in retaliating against his (Ogebe) congressional testimony.
Ogebe’s letter to Kukah reads:
Your Grace
Bishop HM Kukah,
Greetings from Washington.
I wish to commend you for courageously proclaiming liberty to those that are bound. You have been one of the most consistent voices in this effort and you’re greatly appreciated. Indeed I have quoted you extensively in my testimony before several parliaments and was delighted that you were among the pantheon of humanity’s heroic humanitarians who prodded the conscience of mankind.
Please accept my commiseration for the vicious attacks on you even though what you said is the daylight truth.
My personal experience is instructive as I had clear evidence that the Nigerian embassy was in violation of both domestic US law and engaging in conduct incongruent with their diplomatic status under international law by witness intimidation and retaliation for my testifying in the US Congress about human rights in Nigeria.
The Nigerian embassy in Washington at the highest levels authorized my punishment and silencing for/from speaking in “Congress” specifically stating in a memo “Mr. Ogebe derives pleasure from trash-talking Nigeria on social media, in the Chambers of the United States Congress and other public places across the United States.”
More worrisome, the Charge d’affaires (acting Ambassador) of Nigeria, Hakeem Balogun, made the following chilling request: “Going forward, to prevent Mr. Ogebe, who is a Nigerian citizen, from making further derogatory comments that are inimical to the image of Nigeria, Government may consider taking punitive action against him, including withdrawal of his privilege to carry a Nigerian passport.”
Please know that this is a criminal offense and in fact conduct incongruent with their diplomatic status.
18 USC 1505 provides in pertinent part that, “Whoever corruptly, or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication influences, obstructs, or impedes or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede . . . the due and proper exercise of the power of inquiry under which any inquiry or investigation is being had by either House, or any committee of either House or any joint committee of the Congress— Shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years or, if the offense involves international or domestic terrorism (as defined in section 2331), imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both.”
Similarly 18 USC 1513 states, “(b)Whoever knowingly engages in any conduct and thereby causes bodily injury to another person or damages the tangible property of another person, or threatens to do so, with intent to retaliate against any person for—
(1) the attendance of a witness or party at an official proceeding, or any testimony given or any record, document, or other object produced by a witness in an official proceeding; or
or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.
(d)There is extraterritorial Federal jurisdiction over an offense under this section.“
Should you find any threat to your person by the Nigerian government, please feel free to contact me, the US embassy in Nigeria and the US Congress. The extra-territoriality of the offense means that even acts of retaliation against you in Nigeria fall under US jurisdiction.
Even if they do not face do not face earthly justice, divine justice will never elude them.
The government minister, Aisha Alhassan, who thought she was God and attacked me for testifying in the US Congress is now no more.
My Lord Bishop Kukah, please take heart. These Egyptians you see today, you will see no more!
Ogebe also reproduced the letter he wrote in his own case to report the Nigerian government to the US government.
It reads:
HON REP CHRIS SMITH
CHAIRMAN CONGRESSIONAL SUBCOMMITTEE ON GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS
US CONGRESS
CAPITOL HILL
WASHINGTON DC
October 25, 2018
Dear Chairman Smith,
MALICIOUS RETALIATION BY NIGERIAN EMBASSY USA FOR MY TESTIMONY BEFORE YOUR COMMITTEE
I wish to report to your subcommittee an campaign to retaliate against me – a perceived “critic”- by a foreign government with a terrible human rights record which I particularly drew attention to in my last congressional testimony http://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/FA16/20160511/104907/HHRG-114-FA16-Wstate-OgebeE-20160511.pdf In particular, I pointed out the massacre of hundreds of Shiites by the Nigerian army as well as government inaction and attempted cover up on the killings of hundreds of farmers in Agatu by Fulani Muslim herdsmen, incidentally, from president Buhari’s tribe.
One of the victims of terror whom I brought to school here in the US and who goes by the pseudonym “Saa” for her safety testified alongside me at the hearing on “The U.S. Role in Helping Nigeria Confront Boko Haram and Other Threats in Northern Nigeria” at the Congressional Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations. A Lt. Col. was among the Nigerian intelligence operatives from the embassy spotted taking photos of Chairman Chris Smith, former congressman Frank Wolf, myself and Saa using a cellphone camera in 2255 Rayburn House Office Building on May 11, 2016.
Below is a statement by the Nigerian government soon after we testified before your subcommittee:
“The Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development yesterday said it had alerted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to intervene and stop one Emmanuel Ogebe, a US-based Nigerian human rights activist, from parading across the US with the escapee Chibok girls studying abroad.” – http://allafrica.com/stories/201606020212.html
It is clear from the above that the congressional hearing which was monitored by intelligence agents of the Nigerian government, prompted this dramatic effort to silence and stifle our advocacy on this issue. In fact the Nigerian government makes no pretense that it takes exception to what it calls the girls being “paraded” in the US – an obvious reference to the public appearance on the hill and that it specifically wants to “stop” the “human rights activist”!
This would have a chilling effect on human rights advocates in the US such as myself and on the effectiveness of the work of congress if a foreign government can target perceived dissidents or critics even in Washington for exercising their fundamental, constitutional and human rights and civic responsibility to speak.
Recently, my legal action for defamation against the Nigerian government resulted in the discovery by my attorneys of a secret memo proving my report to you two years ago that I was being elaborately and deliberately targeted by the Nigerian embassy for my advocacy.
The letter below admits that the Nigerian embassy in Washington at the highest levels authorized my punishment and silencing for/from speaking in “Congress,” specifically, ”Mr. Ogebe derives pleasure from trash-talking Nigeria on social media, in the Chambers of the United States Congress and other public places across the United States.”
More worrisome, the Charge d’ affaires (Acting Ambassador) of Nigeria Hakeem Balogun made the following chilling request, “Going forward, to prevent Mr. Ogebe, who is a Nigerian citizen, from making further derogatory comments that are inimical to the image of Nigeria, Government may consider taking punitive action against him, including withdrawal of his privilege to carry a Nigerian passport.”
As you know this is a criminal offense and is conduct incongruent with their diplomatic status.
18 USC 1505 provides in pertinent part that, “Whoever corruptly, or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication influences, obstructs, or impedes or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede . . . the due and proper exercise of the power of inquiry under which any inquiry or investigation is being had by either House, or any committee of either House or any joint committee of the Congress— Shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years or, if the offense involves international or domestic terrorism (as defined in section 2331), imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both.”
I humbly request your urgent intervention to protect me from a witch-hunt by the embassy and government of Nigeria. I urge you to refer this matter to US law enforcement for investigation to ensure the safety of myself and my family. In view of the recent assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a consular visit simply for speaking out, I cannot afford to take these threats lightly.
Thank you.
Emmanuel Ogebe
US NIGERIA LAW GROUP
1025 Connecticut ave #1000
Washington DC 20036
Attach: Secret memo of Nigerian government retaliation
CC: Members Foreign Affairs Committee, US Speaker and House Officials, Reps Wilson and Sheila Jackson Lee